August 9, the ninth day of the eighth month of the year, holds a special place in Indian history. Many such historical events took place in the country and the world on this day. Which is very important for you to know.
In the history of India, the day of August Kranti on the 9th of August is known as August Kranti Diwas. Many small and big movements were made to get India’s independence. To drive out the British from India, the Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi announced to fight his last war of independence in the form of the Quit India Movement, which is today known as August Kranti.
The Quit India Movement, which played a decisive role in the Indian freedom struggle, worked to shake the foundation of British rule. This was a movement in which there was a wide participation from the whole country.
On August 9, 1942, exactly seventeen years after the famous event of the Indian freedom struggle ‘Kakori Kand’, on the call of Mahatma Gandhi, the movement started simultaneously in the whole country and acquired such a form that the British were in power. All measures of repression were beginning to prove insufficient.
After the failure of the Cripps Mission, Gandhiji decided to launch his third major movement against British rule. Gandhi was arrested shortly after the movement that started with the slogan ‘British Quit India’, but youth activists across the country kept the movement alive through strikes and sabotage actions.
Socialist members like Jayaprakash Narayan in Congress were most active in underground activities. In many districts like Satara in the west and Medinipur in the east, an independent government, Prati Sarkar was established. It took more than a year for the British to control this movement.
Seeing the condition of England badly surrounded in the Second World War, Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose gave the slogan of ‘Delhi Chalo’ to the Azad Hind Fauj. Sensing the urgency of the occasion, Gandhiji gave the slogan ‘British leave India’ and ‘Do or die’ to the Indians from Bombay (now Mumbai) on the night of 8 August 1942 and went to the Aga Khan Palace in Pune under the government security. . On August 9, 1942, Lal Bahadur Shastri gave a fierce form to this movement. Shastri was arrested on 19 August 1942.
Why was August 9 chosen?
On 9 August 1925, ten militant activists of Hindustan Prajatantra Sangh under the leadership of revolutionary Bismil carried out the Kakori incident with the aim of overthrowing the British government. To keep its memory fresh, the tradition of celebrating ‘Kakori Kand Memorial Day’ was started by Shaheed Bhagat Singh on the 9th of August every year, and a large number of youths used to gather on this day. Gandhiji had chosen the day of 9 August 1942 under a well-thought-out strategy.
On 9 August 1942, before the day ended, all the members of the Congress Working Committee were arrested and the Congress was declared an illegal organization. India Nightingale Sarojini Naidu with Gandhiji was placed under house arrest in Aga Khan Palace in Yerwada Pune, Dr. Rajendra Prasad in Patna Jail, and all other members were placed under house arrest in Ahmednagar Fort. According to government figures, 940 people were killed, 1630 were injured, 18000 D.I.R. were placed under house arrest and 60, 229 were arrested.
